MIKE Rush was at a loss to explain Saints 42-16 capitulation to Wigan at the Magic Weekend.
The Club’s Acting Head Coach said he could find no positives from the defeat and couldn’t explain why his side weren’t at the races in the opening 20 minutes.
“To be fair they were excellent in the first 25 minutes and we were 26-0 down and we hadn’t really had a crack at them,” he said. “I think we completed our first five or six sets, but it didn’t matter as we didn’t do anything to stem that flow. At that point they’d had 14 sets and we had about seven and you can’t play rugby like that.
“Defensively you have to aim up and it wasn’t good enough. That takes nothing away from how good Wigan where. They were good in that opening 20 minutes.
“I don’t think it is a mental thing [why we can’t beat Wigan] but I know that will sound strange. We just weren’t there in that first 20 minutes and it is impossible to tell you why as it is Saints v Wigan and it is a derby game and therefore we should have no excuse for not being there in the first 20 minutes.
“They completed sets, Sam Tomkins was great on the edge. For us? We looked shattered and when we got the ball we went one out and a kick as we were tired. Isn’t that what we did to Leeds and Warrington in the first 20 minutes earlier in the season? It is hard if a side does as well as that to get back into it and we just didn’t get into it. End of.
“The short turnaround from Monday made no issue. We had six days so it wasn’t an issue. Monday was a big game and it was a great game. But everything we did well on Monday night we undid today. That’s frustrating.
“I haven’t seen the second half incident on the video yet so I can’t comment. It is hard to see it from where we were. Once it started tempers went didn’t they? No doubt we will all be at Red Hall on Tuesday.”
